Decorative laminates have been used as surfacing material for many years, in both commercial and residential applications. Decorative laminates can provide an aesthetically pleasing surface that is more economical and/or has improved physical characteristics compared to similar looking alternatives. For example, decorative laminates can be used to create flooring that has the appearance of real hardwood flooring but is less expensive and more durable than real hardwood flooring.
In addition to flooring, decorative laminates are often used in furniture, countertops, cabinets, wall paneling, partitions, fixtures, and the like. As described above, decorative laminates can be made to resemble real wood. Decorative laminates can also be made to resemble such other materials and surfaces as stone, ceramic, marble, concrete, leather, fabric, brick, tile, and the like. In other applications, instead of being made to resemble a particular traditional material or surface, a decorative laminate may be made to provide more fanciful surfaces.
More recently, decorative laminates have been improved to include a three-dimensional “textured” surface. In this way, decorative laminates can be made to not only look like some other material or surface, but can also be made to feel like the other material or surface. In fact, decorative laminates can be made to so closely resemble the look and feel of other materials that one cannot easily determine whether the surface includes the real materials or is a faux representation of the real materials. For example, a textured decorative laminate made to look like real wood paneling may include a plurality of depressions and/or protrusions on its surface to create a texture that simulates the grains and knots of real wood boards. In another example, the textured decorative laminate may be made to look like a plurality of ceramic tiles separated by grout lines. In such an embodiment, the surface of the laminate may be made so that the images of the grout lines are depressed relative to the images of the ceramic tiles. In still other applications, textured decorative laminates may be made with more fanciful virtual artwork and may have embossing and textures that work in conjunction with the virtual artwork to create a more interesting and aesthetically pleasing surface.
In order to create a textured laminate, a press plate having depressions and/or protrusions arranged in a three-dimensional design may be pressed into a substrate. When the press plate is physically pressed into the substrate, the substrate is imprinted with the three-dimensional design present in the surface of the press plate.
To create a textured press plate, a rigid substrate may be precisely ground until a press plate substrate is substantially flat. Thereafter, a selected texture design (e.g., mask) may be printed onto the substrate to guide a subsequent etching process. Once the design is properly printed, various surface portions of the substrate may be etched based on the printed design to create a three-dimensional surface thereon. In addition, one or more layers of chromium plating may be applied to the substrate in order to protect the structured surface. The result of this etching and plating transforms the substrate into a textured (e.g., three-dimensional) press plate that can be used to produce textured decorative laminates.
In some instances, textured laminates that have multiple degrees of gloss may be desirable. In this regard, having multiple degrees of gloss may increase the variety of shadings and color reflects of a textured laminate, thus making the textured laminate appear more realistic. In order to impart various degrees onto a textured laminate, the press plate is typically formed to have corresponding degrees of gloss. In particular, the degree of gloss of different portions of the substrate and/or chromium plating layer(s) may be increased or decreased. The degree of gloss of a portion of the press plate may be increased by polishing, such as by mechanical polishing or electropolishing. The degree of gloss of a portion of the press plate may be decreased by creating a matte finish on such portion of the press plate. A matte finish may be created by chemical etching of the press plate or by applying a mechanical treatment (e.g., sandblasting) to the press plate.